Fremantle football manager Joe Brierty has praised retiring Fremantle legend Nat Fyfe’s selflessness and resilience to get his body right during the tricky back end of his career. 

The 33-year-old made the decision to call it quits at the end of the season, with the club making the official announcement on Monday night. 

It comes as Fyfe returned to the playing side in last weekend’s thrilling win over Port Adelaide, taking him to 245 career games. 

In his final few games, the dual Brownlow Medallist told his teammates he was looking to make one last push for Fremantle’s maiden flag before he officially says farewell. 

Brierity, whose career at Fremantle has had a significant overlap with Fyfe’s, has praised him for his professionalism and persistence throughout his career.  

“He’s a country boy from Lake Grace, family means a lot to him, he has close relationships that he values at a high level,” he told SportFM.

“From a football perspective, outside of what you see in the media and on game days, he’s a really deep thinker, really inquisitive and wanting to unlock every aspect of his talent, which he’s been able to do over the journey. 

“It’s one that’s probably been frustrating for him in the latter half, the last five years of his career, where he hasn’t been able to get his body to that position where he could perform consistently. 

“He’s looked at every possible avenue that could see him get back to where he is at the moment, but the ultimate professional inside an elite AFL environment.” 

Fyfe is widely considered to be one of the modern greats of the game, after winning two Brownlow Medals, three All-Australian Blazers and three club Best and Fairest medals in his 16-year career. 

He well and truly sits in the top echelon of players in the 2010s, with him becoming one of the most iconic players in that era. 

But injury stole the final few years of his career from him, with Fyfe left unable to get his body right and play consistent games of footy. 

Brierity says even off-field, Fyfe’s selflessness has an impact on the players on the field. 

“That’s been seeing the next wave coming through, Andy Brayshaw, Caleb Serong and Hayden Young and these types,” he said.

Probably handing over the baton for those guys to lead the midfield and him to play more of a supporting role has been the biggest thing. He’s been a big part of that, even from a leadership perspective. 

“The work he’s done with Alex Pearce when Alex has transitioned into the captaincy and sitting one out to be a sounding board has been really important in the way he’s gone about that period where he hasn’t been able to get the continuity on-field. 

“It’s really helped those players navigate their own leadership journey, so he’s been selfless in that aspect.” 

But whether he’ll stick around the club once his playing days are over is still to be determined. 

However, Brierity says Fyfe will have something to offer should he choose to stick around. 

“We’ll have those discussions as it all comes to an end. Most players who have been in the industry for this long and given everything. They possibly have to take some time, probably go surfing somewhere in Indonesia or something like that,” he said.

“I think that the level of experience he has from an AFL perspective, the way he sees the game, but even holistically how he sees the setup of a football program is pretty impressive. 

“I’ll say that he’ll have something to offer back to the AFL industry in the future, and as a club, I’m sure would look to engage him in some capacity.

“He’s also got a number of different personal opportunities in business that he’s built over the journey so I’m sure there’ll be a number of ways that he can go about career post footy.”

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